Friday, July 31, 2015

Mystery of the Wilson avocado

Every Tuesday there is a farmers market at Whole Foods in Fort Lauderdale and there are always amazing local vendors selling fresh locally grown vegetables, homemade vegan foods and desserts, soups, spices, carribean teas, homemade soaps, chocolate, breads and so much more.

My favorite vegetable vendor is Enrique from EasyTropical who has a farm in Homestead. He grows a lot of fruit and vegetables and also supplements with other vegetables grown in other climates. This week I saw a gigantic avocado. He said he grows it on his farm, and it was a Wilson. I asked him to tell me the history of the fruit but he only knew its name.

When I returned from the market I googled Wilson Avocado and was thrilled with the back story. I had never even heard of Wilson Popenoe before doing research. I knew Dr. Fairchild was responsible for introducing a tremendous amount of tropical palms, plants and fruit trees to South Florida, and Mr. Wilson Popenoe at the same time was instrumental in introducing avocados.

The Wilson variety was recently the first fruit in all of Florida to be inducted into the Ark of Taste. Slow Food Miami, an organization promoting locally produced food, along with Dr. Helen Violo of the University of Florida and Mike Winterstein of the USDA are on a mission to resurrect the Wilson Avocado from obscurity. Apparently they believe there are only a few trees left in all of Florida. They are not aware of Enrique's prolific grove of trees. Now it is my mission to introduce the above people to help them save the Wilson Avocado.

What is so special about this fruit? It is all about the flavor which is unique and unlike other avocados. It was a super flavor and amazing buttery texture. As of this writing I have yet to taste mine. It is sitting on a kitchen counter ripening. Perhaps tomorrow it will be ready to taste. I can't wait!

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